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Enzyme generating barley to boost feed mileage, reduce manure

The development of barley lines that can generate valuable feed-degrading enzymes is a major step towards the cattle industry's ability to produce more meat with less feed and forage, while reducing manure production.

As part of a recent study funded by the Canada Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund (CABIDF), researchers introduced a gene into barley that leads to the production of feed-degrading enzymes, which can make the crop easier for cattle to digest.

Enzymes, commonly used in the feedlot, are typically delivered to cattle through feed rations for approximately two months, says Dr. Surya Acharya, forage breeder at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Lethbridge Research Centre. The idea behind enzyme-generating crops is to reduce cost and extend the benefits of enzymes to grazing regimes earlier in the animal's development.

"New enzyme technologies show tremendous potential for increasing feed and forage digestibility, but enzyme additives cannot be used effectively under extensive grazing situations," says Acharya. "Producing crops that generate their own enzymes eliminates this problem. This approach looks to be a safe and stable way to deliver enzymes to cattle throughout the animals' life cycle, from pasture to feedlot."

Continued research progress could lead to the development of enzyme-enriched barley varieties within a few years, says Acharya. The novel process of growing cells to regenerate fertile green cereal plants is now patented and holds potential for improvement in many crops used as livestock feed and forage.

"Even a small increase in feed efficiency as a result of this research would be a major benefit," says Acharya. "It would significantly reduce the amount of feed needed to produce meat and reduce the costs of manure handling."

Along with Acharya, the project was conducted by Dr. Francois Eudes and Dr. Andre Laroche of the AAFC Lethbridge Research Centre; Dr. Brent Selinger of the University of Lethbridge; Dr. Jim Helm of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and research consultant Dr. K-J Cheng.

The researchers chose barley as a starting point because of the crop's relatively simple genetic structure - which makes it easier to work with - and its importance in cattle diets as the main silage crop in Western Canada. The enzyme-generating gene, which produces xylanase and glucanase, has been incorporated into several barley lines, which will be used as breeding material toward future barley varieties.

Xylanase and glucanase enzymes are found in microbes of the cattle rumen, explains Acharya. Studies have shown that high levels of these enzymes are linked to improvements in the ability of cattle to digest the cellulose and glucose contained in plant cell walls. This allows for more complete forage digestion, which results in higher feed efficiency and weight gain, and less indigestible fibre that often leads to higher manure output.

"Further research is needed to ensure the gene expressions in the barley plants are stable and at a level useful to cattle," says Acharya. "Once the process is perfected in barley, we can begin work with other forage crops."

CABIDF is a joint $16.4 million fund of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The Fund is administered by Alberta Beef Producers and has supported more than 50 projects in five major categories identified to benefit the Alberta beef industry.

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